May 6, 2007
Box Score
Bridgeport, CT - Sacred Heart took the series from Wagner with an 11-1 victory earlier tonight at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. With the win, Sacred Heart improves to 22-23 and 12-7 in the NEC while the Seahawks fall to 14-29 and 8-12 in the NEC.
Wagner had their chances early accounting for six hits in the first the four frames but only picked up one run during that time. For the game, the Seahawks stranded nine runners, including eight during the first six innings.
Sacred Heart struck first, scoring two first-inning runs on a groundout and a single taking advantage of a hit batsman and a walk to lead off the frame.
Wagner answered right away in the top of the second, loading the bases with no outs. Freshman Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) walked before senior Matt Mastrianni (Ringoes, NJ / Hunterdon Central) and Ed Sudol (Wallington, NJ / Wallington) singled. After a pair of strikeouts, sophomore Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) singled sharply to left field to plate Avella but Mastrianni was gunned down at the plate to end the Seahawk-threat.
The Pioneers got the run back in the bottom part of the inning on a Steve Tedesco groundout.
From that point Wagner-starter freshman rhp AJ Pirozzi (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) settled down over the next 4.0 innings limiting the Pioneers to just two hits while keeping the Seahawks within striking-distance.
However during that time the Seahawks ended three innings with runners in scoring position and were unable to get to Sacred Heart starter Chris Barthel.
With two outs and runners in scoring position Pirozzi left down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh. However from that point the Pioneers broke the game wide-open with seven runs. Rob Tencz supplied the big blow with a three-run triple.
Pirozzi (2-5) struck out a career-high six batters over 6.2 innings and surrendered five earned runs on just six hits while going at least six-plus innings for the fourth-straight start.
Barthel fanned eight and yielded one run on eight hits over 7.0 innings in his second start of the year to improve to 2-0.
Senior Joseph DiGeronimo (Hawthorne, NJ / Hawthorne) collected two hits and a stolen base while Mastrianni went 2-3 with a walk to lead the Seahawks offensively. DiGeronimo now has 213 hits for his career, one shy of former Chicago Cubs farmhand Mike Cerminaro and Mastrianni boosted his career total to 192, just eight away from becoming the fifth Seahawk in school-history to hit the double-century mark.
Wagner will host Central Connecticut in the first of four on Friday at 2:00 pm at Dr. Bill Willetts Field.
